Gemstore items should ALL be available.

[SuavePuppy.2809]

I imagine if there's no worry that the item will be only be available for a short time, players are in general more likely to save up gold to convert to gems instead of swiping out of panic. I'd like all items to be available as well, but I imagine they are doing what makes them the most money.

[roederich.2716]

Btw a „microtransaction“ is officially any transaction under 5 dollars.

[Cyninja.2954]

1 hour ago, Arnox.5128 said:

Appeals to authority do not work with me. I want to see some good hard data.

No you don't. If you did, you'd have read some papers or research on the matter.

 

If you had acquired some knowledge, or tc for this matter or anyone assuming that the current monetization is inferior, you could now cite or argue with actual relevant data why or why not the fomo system should be changed instead of just assuming. (and arguing for change is often more difficult than keeping the status quo).

 

But since it's easier to simply stick with:"I believe therefore I am right until the other side invests vastly more effort than myself", a very common approach in current days, you pretend as though you care while you really don't.

[Einsof.1457]

From a marketing/business angle, it's better this way. 

[Ashen.2907]

4 hours ago, Arnox.5128 said:

Appeals to authority do not work with me. I want to see some good hard data.

Start your own company and give different options a shot then.

[Taclism.2406]

There's something very cute and naive in asking for less microtransactions.
Remember the "all expansions + all living worlds" pack everyone demanded finally released ... and resulted in a 1$ discount compared to seperate purchases?
 

15 hours ago, Svarty.8019 said:

It's dumb that things aren't available all the time. I mean, why? Arenanet seem to treat the store like it's a real shop with limited stock or shelf-space or something.

For at least these reasons and probably more : 
1) Exploit FOMO
2) Too many choices = choice paralysis. The limited selection is very purposeful. Retention data shows how many customers you loose with each extra click needed.
3) Some microtransactions are purposefully bad, to help make other microtransaction shine by contrast. EG : The infinite tool without rune being this expensive "justifies" the fact the volatile magic ones are even more expensive. If all microtransactions were available at all times, half of them would be out of purpose
4) It'd probably affect the gold economy, and gold/gem exchange aswell, since many people would shift mid-long term plans, and save for the most prized microtransactions like said tools.

At this point microtransactions aren't going to change, its about players perspective and their willingness to support Anet's content/philosophy/practices.
If you think you got your money worth of entertainment and still enjoy the game, why not purchase something extra?
If you dislike the way things are going, vote with your wallet and don't, its that simple. It's not like you're gonna start a player revolution, drastic changes come from a vast majority of players feeling the same, not from a vocal minority, regardless of how right or wrong that minority is

Edited November 17, 2022 by Taclism.2406

[Super Hayes.6890]

19 hours ago, The Greyhawk.9107 said:

That's never actually never been sold in the Gem Store, its always either been via the BLCs or the statuettes (and the wardrobe unlock thing, but...yeah).

Ouch. Didn't realize this. But it brings up another issue.... LET ME BUY IT OUTRIGHT DAMMIT ANET! Okay... breathe... I'm good. Nothing to see here 😬

[Super Hayes.6890]

18 hours ago, Sobx.1758 said:

Well then you better stop making random promises you can't keep.

Well... you're not wrong 🤷‍♂️

[Super Hayes.6890]

18 hours ago, Gehenna.3625 said:

Right in the first sentence you are already wrong. I mean how do you figure that getting gold in game to trade for gems is profitable for Anet? It works for the people who buy gems with real life money. I thought that was abundantly obvious.

It was available for Black Lion Statuettes in June this year. The only way you can get this till next year probably is through the black lion exclusives chest from the TP...going for just under 1400 gold at the moment.

But it's only available through those 2 means.

Thank you for this info! Gonna gold farm for her now.

[kharmin.7683]

16 hours ago, Ashen.2907 said:

A watch list would be nice.

 

[Arnox.5128]

15 hours ago, Cyninja.2954 said:

No you don't. If you did, you'd have read some papers or research on the matter.

 

If you had acquired some knowledge, or tc for this matter or anyone assuming that the current monetization is inferior, you could now cite or argue with actual relevant data why or why not the fomo system should be changed instead of just assuming. (and arguing for change is often more difficult than keeping the status quo).

 

But since it's easier to simply stick with:"I believe therefore I am right until the other side invests vastly more effort than myself", a very common approach in current days, you pretend as though you care while you really don't.

wrong.jpg

You guys are the ones who put out a statement of confidence. All I said was I didn't know one way or another. Therefore, the burden of proof rests with you. If I had actually supported a particular stance though, then yes, I would have to back myself up as well.

[Sobx.1758]

6 minutes ago, Arnox.5128 said:

wrong.jpg

You guys are the ones who put out a statement of confidence. All I said was I didn't know one way or another. Therefore, the burden of proof rests with you. If I had actually supported a particular stance though, then yes, I would have to back myself up as well.

So is your opinion that companies rolled a dice on that element of ingame stores?

[Cyninja.2954]

13 minutes ago, Arnox.5128 said:

wrong.jpg

You guys are the ones who put out a statement of confidence. All I said was I didn't know one way or another. Therefore, the burden of proof rests with you. If I had actually supported a particular stance though, then yes, I would have to back myself up as well.

There is no burden of proof. Not everyone questions Arenanet monitezation so I am unsure why that needs any "proof". It obviously makes them money.

Those that argue their monetization could be improved or is lacking can argue that, but would be far more believable if there was any substance to those arguments. 

Edited November 17, 2022 by Cyninja.2954

[Taclism.2406]

43 minutes ago, Cyninja.2954 said:

It obviously makes them money.

Imo thats a massive understatement.  I'm willing to bet microtransactions for gold/gemstore items makes A LOT MORE than expansion sales.
Do you ever wonder why bugs related to gemstore are always fixed the fastest? Or why its such a priority to always have something new in gemstore in spite of content drought?
But theres no detailed data on this in quaterly reports :<

[Drok Kindleshot.1496]

Atleast let us buy a claimticket where we can pick one armor/outfit that we like.....I recently came back to the game and missed the Aurene's herald outfit in september of 2022 now I have to wait another year probably.  Looking at the gw2 gemstore schedule they are going to release the CAPE, yes just the cape in FEb 2022...totally demoralizing.......

[GEGEZZ.7563]

Okay i'll be honest here and take some risks to explain some things i think are necessary to the OP. I think most marketing ideas are based on psychological manipulation one way or the other, and that is especially true for items that serve no real purpose like virtual goods in a video game. Truth is, nobody really needs them if you think about it, except maybe youtubers to earn their life revenue through views by using all possibilities the game they film themselves on has to offer, that the viewer doesn't have, so that the youtuber has something to offer himself.

There are many psychological phenomenons that makes you buy skins or items in a game. All big games have people who have studied them and look for ways to pull these levers. I have watched online presentations of people working in game marketing for AAA games. Of course it uses feeling of loss, it is a common thing, but also like anything you could or couldn't even imagine to make you buy things. It goes deep.

 

An example : even when a game gives you something for free, it is something that has been studied by these people (it is their job) and they found out this way people feel obliged to the game, and feel more ready to "give something back". Many people react inconsciously by thinking the presents has "value" and they feel like they have made money where it was totally free to the company to give as a game item and the item is not even sellable anywhere. It makes the players pay something later because reciprocity is natural for the human being. And that is just an example.

 

I know another game with much worse marketing i think (no name here) selling skins worth 500 euros each for the sake of it. People on your map don't even see your animations of these skins. People think they have value because the game set the price high. So few people have them. People want to be better than others. Since they could shine with them, they want them. So some of them buy them. Youtubers make videos about getting them. They make 10-100 times more money than they spend by spending money the players don't have as usual workers. So the players watch them. The game makes money. The youtuber too. The players consider buying. The rich ones do, then they go back to work. Some people want to cheat because they can't pay. They get banned. It makes buzz. It attracts even more attention to these skins. It makes the remaining people buy them. In the end the game has just decided of the item's price to be overly high. Because it is expensive, people get interested them. But in the end, it's just a skin with not much special other games would sell for 20 euros. This is another technique. If you ask the fans, the items are just "kitten cool" and "top priority to collect".

 

Game companies are not just good at making games, they are professionals about making money too, and that is even more important in their working stack than content, except if you ask the content devs maybe as their job is a bit different. They know what they are doing.

 

As a customer you see your own interest, and sometimes you figure out 5% of the techniques being used on you and you get mad. But that is just discovering the world you are in. Temporary items are just the top of the iceberg, and this game is even less agressive than many other online games i know i would say.

 

I think asking video games to not use weird marketing techniques is a bit naive. And so am i too explaning things here maybe as my post is a bit touchy.

Edited November 17, 2022 by GEGEZZ.7563

[kharmin.7683]

4 hours ago, Drok Kindleshot.1496 said:

Atleast let us buy a claimticket where we can pick one armor/outfit that we like.....I recently came back to the game and missed the Aurene's herald outfit in september of 2022 now I have to wait another year probably.  Looking at the gw2 gemstore schedule they are going to release the CAPE, yes just the cape in FEb 2022...totally demoralizing.......

If you had been logging in every day, then you wouldn't have missed it.  That's the entire point of why things cycle through the store.

[DexterousGecko.6328]

9 hours ago, Taclism.2406 said:

There's something very cute and naive in asking for less microtransactions.
Remember the "all expansions + all living worlds" pack everyone demanded finally released ... and resulted in a 1$ discount compared to seperate purchases?
 

For at least these reasons and probably more : 
1) Exploit FOMO
2) Too many choices = choice paralysis. The limited selection is very purposeful. Retention data shows how many customers you loose with each extra click needed.
3) Some microtransactions are purposefully bad, to help make other microtransaction shine by contrast. EG : The infinite tool without rune being this expensive "justifies" the fact the volatile magic ones are even more expensive. If all microtransactions were available at all times, half of them would be out of purpose
4) It'd probably affect the gold economy, and gold/gem exchange aswell, since many people would shift mid-long term plans, and save for the most prized microtransactions like said tools.

At this point microtransactions aren't going to change, its about players perspective and their willingness to support Anet's content/philosophy/practices.
If you think you got your money worth of entertainment and still enjoy the game, why not purchase something extra?
If you dislike the way things are going, vote with your wallet and don't, its that simple. It's not like you're gonna start a player revolution, drastic changes come from a vast majority of players feeling the same, not from a vocal minority, regardless of how right or wrong that minority is

I disagree with the idea of "pay or not, but there's no point talking about it". As long as people care about it, there's always a point to discussing something.

[The Greyhawk.9107]

42 minutes ago, kharmin.7683 said:

If you had been logging in every day, then you wouldn't have missed it.  That's the entire point of why things cycle through the store.

Err....logging in every day is not a reasonable expectation....

[kharmin.7683]

23 minutes ago, The Greyhawk.9107 said:

Err....logging in every day is not a reasonable expectation....

Perhaps not, but that's how the marketing ploy works.

[The Greyhawk.9107]

31 minutes ago, kharmin.7683 said:

Perhaps not, but that's how the marketing ploy works.

Kinda contradicts the whats supposed to be part of the game's philosophy of playing at one's own pace, picking it up or taking time off.

[Arnox.5128]

14 hours ago, Sobx.1758 said:

So is your opinion that companies rolled a dice on that element of ingame stores?

Once again, another appeal to authority. Haven't you SEEN how short-sighted companies can get these days? NCSoft/ANet is not immune to making mistakes.

[Mistwraithe.3106]

On 11/18/2022 at 3:22 PM, Arnox.5128 said:

Once again, another appeal to authority. Haven't you SEEN how short-sighted companies can get these days? NCSoft/ANet is not immune to making mistakes.

I've dabbled in game development and sat in on several microtransaction talks at GDC. It's horrifying the lengths to which some microtransaction schemes (primarily on mobile) go to suck people into their web and then slowly extract more and more money out of them. I think it's a scourge upon gaming in general and think the more extreme cases should be stamped out by legislation as it's exploiting the same weaknesses which make some people very vulnerable to gambling.

But, my personal feelings aside, there is no doubt that the psychology behind it is very advanced now. For you, someone who admits to no experience or knowledge on the subject, to say that NCSoft, a company which gets most of its revenue from long running games with microtransactions, is wrong about what makes money and what doesn't, is laughably naive.

You should just be thankful that GW2 is run pretty sensibly and has pretty tame microtransactions. The biggest mistake software companies sometimes make is going too extreme and alienating too much of their user base while trying to chase the whales. GW2 is definitely doing this a bit with how heavily tied skins are to the gem store but it's low on the spectrum, with most gem store items being cosmetics or useful, but not essential, quality of life items.

Edited November 21, 2022 by Mistwraithe.3106

[Gehenna.3625]

8 hours ago, Arnox.5128 said:

Once again, another appeal to authority. Haven't you SEEN how short-sighted companies can get these days? NCSoft/ANet is not immune to making mistakes.

No, but for you to assume that they are making mistakes unless you get proof of the opposite is equally short-sighted. This is a matter of public knowledge that game companies have been employing monetization specialists for many years now and use psychology against customers...successfully. If you're not aware of this then that's really a gap in your general knowledge and is not up to anyone to prove to you. You'll likely attack the proof on any detail anyway, so why bother?

ArenaNet themselves have been doing this in this game for 10 years now. To say that they've learned nothing in these 10 years is frankly ridiculous. Other game companies the same. At some point you've got to admit that there might be something to what they're doing. I'm sure they've made mistakes, but the same mistake for 10 years? If they didn't see a difference between timed sales and regular sales, they would've known that it doesn't work for years now. Try to be a little bit more reasonable.

Besides, where's your proof that it doesn't work that way? Aside from some anecdotal stories of people who say or pretend that they don't spend more money because of it doesn't make it true for the player base. The OP needs to prove their point here and so far neither thye nor you have given any evidence that support this view. 

[Sobx.1758]

12 hours ago, Arnox.5128 said:

Once again, another appeal to authority. Haven't you SEEN how short-sighted companies can get these days? NCSoft/ANet is not immune to making mistakes.

...ok then, so you think they rolled the dice on it 😄 Not sure why you have such a hard time directly responding to that question though. Maybe it's because you know the company is clearly set on maximizing profits and ""rolling the dice"" on something like this is one of the last things they would be willing to do.

Edited November 18, 2022 by Sobx.1758